Summertime Threats That Can Bring Pain Instead of Pleasure to your Pet

Overheating and Heatstroke

Many people don’t realize just how quickly their pet can overheat. Dogs (and cats) can’t regulate their body temperature as efficiently as we can, because most of their sweat glands are confined to the pads of their feet. Panting is your dog’s primary means of cooling down.

Flat-faced (brachycephalic) breeds can’t pant as effectively as dogs with longer noses, so they have even less ability to regulate their body temperature.

Pets can also become dehydrated very rapidly in warm weather, so it’s extremely important to ensure your dog has a constant source of fresh, clean drinking water. If he’ll be outside in the heat for any period, he should also have access to a completely shaded area and plenty of cool drinking water and be sure to bring him indoors when the temp climbs to 90°F (32°C) or above.

If you spend time in the yard on summer days or evenings, and your dog doesn’t like being stuck indoors, you can turn on the hose or sprinkler to cool him off. You can also fill a children’s small plastic wading pool with water and encourage him to sit or lie in it.

Exercise your dog either in the early morning or evening when the temperature is coolest. Try to stay in the shade during daylight hours, and no matter the time of day, don’t overdo outdoor exercise or play sessions. Even on an overcast day or in the evening, a long period of physical exertion in hot weather can cause heatstroke.

Don’t allow your dog to stand, walk or rest on hot outdoor surfaces like sidewalks or parking lots. His paws, belly, and hindquarters can sustain burns from hot concrete. And remember he’s close to the ground and the ground is much hotter than the air. Just walking on hot pavement can cause him to overheat.

Never under any circumstances leave your pet in a parked vehicle on a hot day. Your car or truck cab can become a furnace very quickly, even with the windows open, and can cause a fatal case of heatstroke in your canine BFF. Aside from the risk of serious illness or death, leaving pets unattended in vehicles in hot weather is illegal in many states.

Backyard Get-Togethers and Barbeques

Even if your dog has a healthy, resilient digestive tract, it’s best to keep party and barbequed foods out of reach, along with potentially toxic people foods like chocolate, coffee, onions, grapes, raisins, and bread dough. Corn on the cob, also a popular food this time of year, can be very dangerous because the cob is indigestible and can get stuck in the digestive tract, requiring surgery.

Another watch-out is cooked bones, which are dangerous to dogs because they tend to splinter. Most veterinarians have performed surgery to remove shards, splinters and blockages from dogs who were given or scavenged cooked bones. Tragically, some cases prove fatal.

But with that said, your pet has a biological requirement for the nutrients found in bone marrow and the bones themselves, and fortunately, most dogs love to chew raw bones for the yummy taste, the mental stimulation, and because all that gnawing is great exercise for the muscles of the jaw. So when it comes to bones, play it safe and offer your dog only raw bones — either edible bones and/or recreational bones.

During gatherings at your home (or elsewhere, if you bring your dog along), it’s also important to keep all alcoholic drinks out of reach of your pet, and make sure your guests do the same. Alcohol is poison to dogs, and depending on how much is ingested, your pet can become very intoxicated, weak, depressed, and even comatose. Severe alcohol poisoning can result in death from respiratory failure.